Victoria Monet is flexing her pen for personal use. The songwriter is no stranger to late nights trapped creating, with a resumè including hits for Ariana Grande, T. I. and B. o. B, to name a few. Now maneuvering herself away from being behind-the-scenes and to the forefront, the singer-songwriter is focusing on making wise song choices.

“It gets kind of tricky sometimes because, as a creator, sometimes you will write something really great and people around you will say “that’s a smash, that’s a hit song you should keep it as an artist,'” she said. “But you have to be true to yourself and step back and realize that this song is better on Ariana Grande, this song is better on this artists and this song is mine. Just kind of differentiate and just be yourself.”

Adding the drama to this Halloween with the first of her projects, Nightmares and Lullabies, Victoria hopes it will communicate her creative abilities. “The biggest thing for me is I want to separate myself from other artists,” the California native explained. “I know I’m going to get compared to artists, people will try to put you in a category. ‘Oh she’s like Ciara cause she’s black,’ or Beyonce, whoever else, or Rihanna. I want to slowly, but surely, separate myself from my sound and my style and make my own lane.”

Get to know the “Urban Pocahantas” in the following pages. – Alley Olivier